For me, one of the coolest things about having a Smartphone is that you can use it connect to your laptop and get online. At pretty damned good speed, I might add. Without rooting. For free.

Prior to switching over to the Android platform, I was a Blackberry user and used the Tetherberry app to get on the internet. I believe I paid $59 to purchase the app, and all-in-all still feel that it was a good investment. Tetherberry now has the same app available for Android phones and the cost is only $29. I haven't used their app on my Droid, but that seems like a pretty reasonable deal.

Once I dumped Blackberry for my Droid, one of the first things I did was research how to get my online with my laptop through my Droid. At that time Tetherberry (with whom I already had an account) did not have Droid access. So, through the Droid Market and forums, I was directed to the PDANet app from June Fabrics. They currently offer tethering apps for Droid, iPhone, Blackberry, Windows Mobile and PalmOS.

Load it on your phone (with the option to load the PC software onto your SD card to have it ready to load to your laptop when you connect the two), and in very short order you are online. It works amazingly well and it is 100% FREE. Sort of.

After downloading the PDANet app to your phone and laptop, you simply open the software on both and you are online. You may now surf anywhere on the net---as long as it isn't a secure web site. Meaning, you can search on Google, go to Yahoo!, visit web sites, but you can't check your Gmail or log into PayPal or check your bank account balance.

This is brilliant on the part of June Fabrics. They gave me the app for free. Allowed me to see how easy and useful it is. Then reminded me when I habitually tried to check my email, that I would have to purchase the full version to do that.

So that's what I'm gonna do. It's only $23.95 for a full licensed version (now on sale for only $15.99) with unlimited free upgrades for one phone and all the laptops you want to load it on.

Of course, this technology is probably going to go by the wayside soon as more and more phones are able to become their own WiFi hotspots.